26 SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION UULT 



skins up, and then by climbing on Bowers' back I also got up; 

 but no amount of combined pulling would lift Bowers, as the 

 rope only cut and jammed into the overhanging cliff of ice. He, 

 however, hunted round till he found a place where he helped him- 

 self up by cutting steps while we hauled at the same time. It 

 took a little time, but at last we were all up, and at once started 

 back by the way we had come in a very failing light. Bowers had 

 unfortunately got one leg into a crack in the sea ice, and his 

 crampon, finnesko and socks became frozen into a solid mass. 

 Had we been able to bring the sledge along to this point the ice 

 foot would have given us no difficulty at all, but we had left it 

 behind at the manhole. [A whole procession of Emperors came 

 round just as they were coming back from the floe.] 



The small number of Emperor penguins collected here at 

 this time is surprising. There were not more than 100 birds, and 

 without forcing all of them to abandon their eggs it was impos- 

 sible to guess how many had laid or were incubating. It looked 

 to me as though every fourth or fifth bird had an egg, but this is 

 only a guess and may be quite wrong, though I am certain that 

 there were more birds without eggs than with eggs. Why there 

 should be so few birds here this July, when there were so many 

 more here in September and October ten years ago, is difficult to 

 understand. The examination of the three eggs we have brought 

 back with us may throw some light on the question. They may 

 have only just begun to lay, and these may have been the earliest 

 arrivals. Others may yet arrive in numbers and lay this year. 



Another possible explanation is that the ice has not remained 

 in, and that the rookery has been dissipated lately; and some 

 support is lent to this possibility by the absence of all snow drifts 

 on to the sea ice from the ice foot. 



I see no way of deciding this question except by another visit 

 to the rookery either this year in September or October or 

 next year, preferably in August. The most valuable work prob- 

 ably could be done in August, and a visit would be much facili- 

 tated if by any possibility some supply of oil and food could be 

 left at the Adelie penguin rookery by the ship during the coming 

 summer. But I am not blind to the difficulties there may be in 

 her doing this. 



A very interesting fact we saw at the rookery this time was 

 that these birds are so anxious to incubate an egg that they will 



